#28 – “We believe in nothing!” The Stakes of Meaninglessness in Nietzsche’s “The Joyful Wisdom” Scott Hambrick and Karl Schudt discuss Friedrich Nietzsche's book The Joyful Wisdom, Book 3, which contains his infamous proclamation "God is dead." Nietzsche is perhaps best known for his writings about nihilism, the rejection of God and moral principles, or of [...]

#27 – Is There Virtue Among Cannibals? Scott and Miles Discuss Montaigne’s “Of Cannibals” Scott Hambrick and Online Great Books member Miles Marco Bennett -- in fact the very first member to join OGB -- discuss Michel de Montaigne's insightful, tongue-in-cheek, and occasionally droll essay Of Cannibals.Montaigne's essay, which appears in a larger collected work [...]

#26 – Brevity is The Soul of Wit… and Effective Communication Scott talks to Joe McCormack, author of Brief: Make Bigger Impact by Saying Less, about the importance of brevity in communication. Joe is an author, speaker, and consultant who has worked with executives, military personnel, and many others to hone their ability to communicate [...]

#25 – Analyzing Freud’s Melancholia and Mourning with Psychiatrist David Puder, MD Psychiatrist Dr. David Puder joins the podcast to discuss Sigmund Freud's 1917 paper Melancholia and Mourning. You can find Dr. Puder on Instagram @dr.davidpuder and you can subscribe and listen to his podcast at https://psychiatrypodcast.com. Use the discount OGBPODCAST to save 25% on enrollment at [...]

#24 – Euclid & The Shape of Modern Science with Emmet Penney Online Great Books founder Scott Hambrick and seminar leader Emmet Penney tackle the first scientific work on the podcast, Euclid's Elements. The Elements are a collection of treatises, postulates, and propositions that ultimately drive toward important mathematical concepts such as the Pythagorean theorem [...]

#23 – Shakespeare’s Hamlet Pt. 2: What Is The Question, Exactly? Scott and Producer Trent wrap up their discussion of Shakespeare's Hamlet, close-reading Hamlet's soliloquies and dissecting the structure of Shakespeare's verse. They reflect on Shakespeare's impact on modern literature, the curiously secular perspective of the play in a highly religious time period, and whether Shakespeare [...]

#22 – Shakespeare’s Hamlet Pt. 1: The First Modern Masterpiece? Producer Trent returns to the podcast to discuss the first modern piece of literature to appear on the podcast: Shakespeare's Hamlet. A dark, introspective, sprawling drama, Hamletis arguably Shakespeare's masterpiece, and certainly one of the best of the twelve tragedies he penned. Scott and Trent [...]

#21 – The College Trap Pt. 2 with Brett Veinoitte (School Sucks Podcast) Brett Venoitte of the School Sucks Project returns for Part 2 of our interview discussing the problems with college admissions and the persistent myth that college is a sure path to financial success and career fulfillment. In the second half of the [...]

#20 – The College Trap: How College Became A Religious Belief with Brett Veinoitte (School Sucks Podcast) Scott Hambrick interviews podcaster, author, former test prep educator, and education contrarian Brett Veinoitte about the rapidly changing role of school and, particularly, secondary school. As the recent scandal involving celebrities paying bribes to obtain university admissions for [...]

#19 – The OGB Seminar Experience, and Why Your Voice Matters Scott and Karl Schudt discuss what an Online Great Books seminar is like -- the experience, what it should be, and what it is not. Many people interested in reading the great books balk at the seminar aspect of OGB out of fear that [...]